Native herbivores and environmental heterogeneity as mediators of an exotic grass invasion

Native herbivores and environmental heterogeneity as mediators of an exotic grass invasion

Given that many exotic plant species throughout the world are having large ecological and economic effects, it is vital to understand the forces that mediate their success in novel landscapes. Both native herbivores and recipient ecosystems can have substantial effects on the performance of exotic plant species, and may interact with each other or vary in their effects over time. Unfortunately,...

Native herbivores and plant facilitation mediate the performance and distribution of an invasive exotic grass

1. Exotic plant species have become increasingly prominent features of ecological landscapes throughout the world, and their interactionswith native and exotic taxa in these novel environments may play critical roles inmediating the dynamics of such invasions. 2. Here, we summarize results from comparative and experimental studies that explore the effects of two factors – herbivory and facilita...

Herbivores on native and exotic

Potential selection in native grass populations by exotic invasion.

Ecological impacts of invasive plant species are well documented, but the genetic response of native species to invasive dominance has been often overlooked. Invasive plants can drastically alter site conditions where they reach dominance, potentially exerting novel selective pressures on persistent native plant populations. Do native plant populations in old exotic invasions show evidence of s...

Diet Switching by Mammalian Herbivores in Response to Exotic Grass Invasion

Invasion by exotic grasses is a severe threat to the integrity of grassland ecosystems all over the world. Because grasslands are typically grazed by livestock and wildlife, the invasion is a community process modulated by herbivory. We hypothesized that the invasion of native South American grasslands by Eragrostis plana Nees, an exotic tussock-forming grass from Africa, could be deterred by g...